Dwell 2015 11

modern world
outside
The Hand
Made’s Tale
How a father and son built a diminutive off-thegrid
cabin in the Wisconsin woods.
Architect Bill Yudchitz asked
his son, Daniel, to help him
create a self-sustaining multilevel
family cabin in Bayfield,
Wisconsin. Floor-to-ceiling
doors from Sierra Pacific
Windows open the structure to
the elements (below left) and
provide a protective layer when
not in use (right).
text by
Lisa Skolnik
photos by
Narayan Mahon
project
Nest
architect
Revelations Architects/Builders
revarch.com
location
Bayfield, Wisconsin
A vision of an archetypal little cabin
in the woods—reinterpreted with a contemporary
aesthetic and a sustainable
footprint—inspired Bill Yudchitz and his
son, Daniel, both architects, to put their
years-long dedication to the small home
movement into action five years ago.
“Everything we saw was ugly, corny, and
Spartan,” says Yudchitz. “We wanted to
prove that architecture can be artful
and soulful, but still tiny, affordable,
and green.” With Yudchitz’s practice,
Revelations Architects/Builders, in
Stevens Point, Wisconsin, and Daniel
working for architecture and engineering
firm HGA in Minneapolis, the
experiment would also yield a pair of
weekend retreats for their families.
Finding lakeside land proved surprisingly
daunting; many idyllic spots,
such as Wisconsin’s Door County, have
zoning ordinances with minimum size
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NOVEMBER 2015
DWELL